Hello fellow webmasters.. Please let me know how to 1. copyright my content 2. register/Trademark my site www.Lovebowl.com waiting joshu thomas
If you are in the USA: 1. Visit the US Copyright Office's website (copyright.gov) for information to copyright items. 2. Visit USPTO.gov (US Government Patent & Trademark Office) to trademark your items. While the copyright is easy to do, you should see an IP lawyer for trademarks to ensure you are filing properly. Depending on how many classes you TM and your lawyer's fee, it could cost you around $1,000 on up to 1000s
Ah. Well, I would call a lawyer in your area and find out. Perhaps Google some terms and see what pops up.
You can file for a trademark/servicemark yourself, but you want to make sure you do it exactly right because if you don't, they will reject it and you will have to pay another fee. It can be $100 to $600 depending on how strict they are. First thing, make sure no one else has USED the name before. If they have, they own the rights to the name regardless of if they have filed for a trademark/servicemark. The first to use, and continue to use, is the legal owner. Trademarks are granted on a classification basis- i.e. a t-shirt company could register the name but a company might be able to use the name for selling computers because there is no conflict. Different spellings and foreign spelling can also constitute infringement i.e. "luv bug" or "amour bug." Some generic names are not able to be trademarked. I believe are 48 trademark categories, and to own the absolute rights to the name, you would need to file for each classification - which would run you at least $30,000 - most likely a lot more. You also can't file for a "jewelry" classification or other classification unless you are already using it for that purpose. You can't file because you "intend" to use a mark for a particular classification. To file for one classification, it will cost you $600 for the filing fee. Your application then goes to an examining attorney who looks for conflicts with already registered marks - but they don't check anywhere else (that's why there are trademark/service search companies that charge several hundred dollars and up to look for prior usage). If the examining attorney doesn't see a conflict, it goes to publication. That is a notice of your intent to register the mark and it goes out to all trademark attorneys so they can file an objection if they believe there is a conflict with one of their registered marks. That process takes about a year. Assuming no one objects during that one-year period, your mark is approved and there is then a 5 year period where anyone can object to the mark. If no one contests the usage during that 5 year period, your mark is granted and it becomes "uncontestable" i.e. the mark is yours. You then have to pay another $600. You will then need to file (and pay a fee) for continued use every 10 years. The bottom line is that is takes six years from filing before you can say you have a registered trademark/servicemark. You are also required to defend your trademark/servicemark - meaning you need to go after anyone infringing upon your name or else you risk losing the name. That is why you see large companies going after small time operators who are infringing upon their name. They aren't afraid of losing business, they are protecting their rights to the name. If you really want the name, first search for prior usage. If you find it, then forget about spending the money for an application. If you can't find prior usage, I would strongly advise paying for a trademark/servicemark search unless the name is so unique (basically a made up name) that you are sure it has never been used before. If you do a lot of research, you can probably file the application yourself but an attorney should really be used because often the examining attorney will have questions or objections will be filed and they are the ones who know how to respond in the proper manner. There are many companies on the web that offer the service. From personal experience, the search and attorney fees for application usually run a minimum of $500 - $600 plus application fee - so about $1,200 and up to get the background work and application filed. An intellectual property attorney that specializes in trademarks can also give you a good assessment of your chances of getting the mark BEFORE you pay the $600 application fee.
I have learned so much from that right now, but I bet you scared the guy off sho asked the question in the 1st place. LoL @ 30,000 dolars